Road Rage Continues to Rise in Missouri and Kansas

Road rage is a common problem on the streets of Missouri and Kansas. To make matters worse, these accidents are usually 100 percent preventable if drivers learned to control their anger and temper. However, until then, many drivers will be severely injured or even killed due to the senseless and dangerous acts of individuals with road rage.

What is road rage?

According to the American Psychological Association, road rage is a form of aggressive driving. This type of driving happens when drivers become angry behind the wheel, which can lead to dangerous and deadly car accidents. Psychologists have been conducting research to understand what causes road rage, and they have determined that young males are most prone to road rage behavior, with traffic and stress being the main contributing factors to this behavior.

What is happening with road rage in Missouri and Kansas?

A recent article explained that the number of pedestrians killed by motor vehicles continues to increase each year in Kansas and Missouri. In fact, Missouri saw 129 pedestrian fatalities last year, and Kansas saw 47. Both numbers were upticks from the previous year. This is alarming to state officials and the public, which has led them to wonder why these numbers keep rising.

One of the key factors mentioned in the article is road rage, which is a term that has been around for a long time. However, these accidents were only an “occasional thing,” which usually caught people by surprise when they heard about it happening around their communities. Nowadays, it seems like everyone is angry, and hearing that road rage is the cause of severe and deadly accidents is no shock at all.

The article goes on to conclude with the statement, “we suspect, though, that the danger will remain until drivers in Kansas and Missouri and everywhere else take a collective chill pill, drive a little less angry and remember to share the road. Our neighbors who walk, run and jog deserve no less.”

This statement was perfect because it is absolutely true that pedestrians deserve to be treated with the same respect as everyone else, and motor vehicle drivers need to learn to control their anger. If they do not, many more people will become critically injured or lose their lives.

Is it really that bad?

Since many people think of the midwestern states as unusually nice, the last two states that you may ever think of as having high levels of road rage would most likely be Missouri and Kansas. However, a recent survey was conducted this year and found that Missouri is the second state in the United States with the most confrontational drivers, and a few years ago another survey stated that Kansas has some of the rudest drivers in the nation.

The survey results indicated that 54 percent of Missouri drivers cut drivers off on purpose, and eight percent of Missouri drivers pointed a weapon or fired it at them. About 30 percent of the survey participants said that they know a person who was injured in a road rage accident in Missouri.

When it comes to the Kansas survey, the state was given one of the worst scores for aggressive and negative reactions to slow drivers. In fact, survey participants stated that if you merge in front of a Kansas driver, you better speed up because they do not tolerate slow driving.

Some examples of road rage

• Examples of road rage behaviors include:Speeding
• Tailgating
• Not completely stopping at stop lights or signs
• Failing to use turn signals
• Passing
• Weaving in and out of traffic
• Yelling at other drivers
• Cursing at other drivers
• Waving hands out the window at other drivers
• Hitting the steering wheel
• Beeping the horn aggressively
• Brake checking the person behind them
• Flashing headlights at the person in front of them
• Cutting drivers off
• Driving slow on purpose
• Throwing objects at other vehicles
• Changing lanes frequently
• Failing to yield the right of way
• Forcing another driver to run off the road or wreck
• Sideswiping a vehicle on purpose
• Rear-ending a vehicle on purpose
• Chasing a vehicle
• Flashing guns, knives, or other weapons to scare other drivers

Can I file a lawsuit against a driver with road rage?

When a road rage crash occurs, the vehicle driver who was driving carelessly, recklessly, and aggressively is most likely liable for the accident. However, you can only file a lawsuit if a driver with road rage causes an accident involving you. You can sue a driver with road rage if they caused you injuries, property damage, pain and suffering, mental trauma and more. If they yelled at you, cut you off, and brake checked you but you never crashed or suffered any losses, you are unable to file a lawsuit.

Six tips for dealing with a driver who has severe road rage

If you ever encounter a driver with severe road rage, it is critical that you know what to do to prevent things from escalating and causing an accident. These are six tips to remember:

1. Stay cool and try not to make the driver angrier.
2. Try not to make eye contact with the road rage driver.
3. Do not drive too close to the angry driver.
4. Give the driver the right of way and allow them to pass you.
5. Slow down and change lanes to get away from the road rage driver.
6. Take a picture of their license plate, use your dash cam to record, or call 911 if you feel like you may be in danger.

The legal team at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys is committed to representing and fighting for the rights of road rage victims. We know and understand how frightening these types of accidents and altercations can be. Therefore, our road rage accident lawyers will do everything we can to make this process as easy and simple as possible for you.

To schedule a free, no-obligation case evaluation with one of our road rage accident attorneys, please do not hesitate to call our office or submit our contact form as soon as possible. We have one main office in Kansas City, Mo and several other offices in Lee’s Summit, Parkville and St. Joseph (MO); Olathe, Kansas City, and Overland Park (KS). Each office location is by appointment only except our main office.